bassanimation

I have no clue about Anvil vs. AA, but I will say that Im interested in seeing how the new WM will fit for me. I've never been thrilled with the girl's sizes here, though my complaints are fairly minor. Mostly the shirts seem a bit 'boyish', they're not shaped to flatter a girl's figure. Also they shrink like a mofo, so after about 6 months, most of my Woots are too short in the midsection to wear comfortably.

I have always liked the feel of the AA shirts though. They're pretty soft and they stretch well.

I sincerely hope the new shirts arent really bad for me, personally. I love to keep the bulk of my work here on Woot, as this is my tee homebase. If the quality of the tees were to drop significantly I'd be pretty sad . I'll hope for the best though. Cant wait to try one of the new women's sizes! My somewhat lofty sweater cows would appreciate a bit more room to move around. ^_~

femgeek

lutherann

I'm extremely disappointed by this change. Having the shirts made in the USA was the *biggest* selling point for me. I didn't care that the price went up, because I liked the shirts. But now you've raised the price and endangered American jobs?

I hate anvil shirts. In response to one post, ProfHotpants said, "It's possible you've worn a different style Anvil shirt. They're not all the same." How very true! Even when you've ordered the same style and size shirt, they're not all the same. Their sizes are inconsistent at best and the quality is terrible. When I ordered a Woot! shirt printed on an AA blank, I knew what I was getting; now I would not feel confident ordering a shirt from Woot!.

This is upsetting on so many levels. I seriously doubt that I will ever buy another shirt from Woot!. Wow, way to ruin my day Woot!.

mikeymet

I bought a few designs at the new price and thought it was still very reasonable seeing as these shirts are super soft and of the AA quality I've come to trust.

I've loved the artists' designs and have seen some of the funniest things to have been printed on cotton come through my mailbox.

But after these last 4+ years of shirt wooting I feel a bit hosed to be honest. If the cost is reduced so greatly going with Anvil for Woot!, I understand the switch, but I really wish we didn't have to stay with the increased price on our end too.

Kinda a sleazy move having us clear out all the AA inventory before dropping the news too. Though I'm a bit more inclined to snatch up a few before they're gone now.

buzzbean

dcroe05 wrote:After sleeping on it, and reading the responses of everyone else, I think I have a better handle on my own feelings about this change.

3. I feel manipulated and lied to. This decision has obviously been in the works for a while. In this thread, there is a staffer saying they've been testing Anvil blanks for years. Yet only 36 days ago, when they announced a price increase a Woot staffer said this:
[/b]

Well said. Point 3 in particular. This is a very unwoot decision. I feel for the artists scheduled for tees over the next few days. I suspect there will be below normal demand until everyone gets angry about the next outrage and goes back to old habits.

Kasona

Keep in mind that these prices are NOT at the "I'm a huge customer" price level, but you can certainly see that there's a few bucks difference in it.

For reference, if anyone cares, our price for the Anvil 980 is 2.38/white and 3.31/colors. Woot is a bigger customer than we are, so they're pricing may be even better, but I would expect their cost to be no greater than that.

I'm gonna order in a couple and see what they're like before I do any complaining. I love the AA shirts, but I'm being hopefully optimistic that these Anvil ones are as good as ProfHotpants says.

dolemite007

profbrendan wrote:Having not worked there I can't tell you from personal experience, but from my understanding it's not so much about how the workers are treated as how the owner, Dov Charney, behaves. He's been hit with several harassment lawsuits due to his beliefs and attitudes toward sex, and the company has generated discrimination controversy by making retail hiring decisions based at least partly on the candidate meeting an appearance standard. Naturally, these incidents have been refuted or explained by others within AA, but they're still out there.

On the other hand, as Narfcake pointed out the manufacturing workers make double the minimum wage, there's apparently a very good benefit package, they promote from within, they seem to be environmentally conscious in reducing their waste, and they have a pretty strong history of promoting equality and immigration reform.

So are they the worst company? No. Are they the best? No. They have some very unique flaws but also make a good product, so ultimately it comes down to whether the consumer is comfortable supporting them.

You can also google "American Apparel Controversy" and read plenty of other stuff about them, some bad and some good, from the past 12 or so years.

johnsamuel

Well, that's it for me. I loved that there was a great and cool product that was made in the USA that I could buy for presents or just to make someone's day. I won't be buying any more shirts from you.

trickycoolj

I haven't read through the entire thread because I am at work, but I wanted to chime in that I am a lady that LOVES AA fitting ladies shirts!! I am skeptical of other sources as well. I've noticed that at places like Emerald City Comicon and PAX in the last two years they have swithched their ladies shirts from AA to Bella, which are much too large in the chest. I'm pear shaped, I have to buy to fit my hips which is generally a large, but my chest is built for a medium shirt. Having a baggy shirt on top is not acceptable. It causes too big arm holes and saggy shoulders and gigantic collars. Because I am built Chest, Waist, Hips 34-29-40 I cannot purchase men's shirts or the bottom is constantly hiked up above my waist (belly shirts went out with the 90s). Don't even get me started on those old babydoll blanks that used to pass as women's shirts.

I will be hoping for a very exact size chart on the women's fit (including a chest/waist/hip measurement if they are not a straight cut) and if after one purchase of the new style they don't fit properly, I'm out. Sorry, I've got bills to pay and limited space I can't buy ill fitting shirts that will just languish in my drawer until the next Goodwill cleaning.

jossimbyr

I might be joining the others in never buying another woot shirt, but my reasons are entirely different. I am dismayed by the fact that they are moving from a non-union supplier to a mostly-unionized one. The fact that it was an American textile supplier that is non-union was just icing on the cake.

davemays123

Assuming woot with AA shirts and $10 price-point was operating at a "razor-thin" profit margin as stated by the woot representative earlier, we'll say 5%. That means $.50 profit per shirt. Then they raise the price $2. They just quadrupled their profit. Pretty good, eh? Oh, no, not good enough by half. They then downgrade their shirts to a blank that conservatively has to cost AT LEAST $2-3 dollars less per unit, we'll say 2 to be nice. They are now making $4.50 profit. That is NINE TIMES the profit they were making per shirt two months ago.

I have no problem with woot making a decent profit, they aren't running a charity. I do find it rather hard to believe that a 800% increase in profit/shirt over a two month period is justifiable.

oddparity

This annoys me. Being 6"1 the AA size L shirt fits me perfectly, a lot of other shirts (including the Anvil shirts I have) are too short in size L and much too wide in XL. I've also never had a problem with AA shirts shrinking, certainly not in the length, so that also seems like a red herring to me.

I had recently made the decision to just impulse buy whichever Woot design comes up that I even remotely like, either for myself or the kids - I have a hard time finding T-shirts and these just fit well, so I figured I might as well stockpile a few. Needless to say that decision is now reversed, starting today.

As some others have stated, I'd much prefer another $2 or even a $3 price hike to this. I am also very dissatisfied with the bait-and-switch of first announcing that you're raising prices to keep the quality the same, and then barely a month later switching to a cheaper blanks supplier.

fishbiscuit5

I use the ringspun Anvil blanks in my store. They are actually pretty soft and everyone has been very happy with them. I was secretly hoping they would be woot's choice since they need to make the change.

ProfHotpants

catrionab90 wrote:So...just putting this out there...what about colors? I'm sure the colors will all change somewhat as colors vary from brand to brand. Will there be a new color palette available, and will there be new colors options that weren't available before?

Right now, we are offering the same palette of shirt colors. In the coming weeks there will be slight transitions on a couple of the colors (the new "silver" color may be a tiny bit different for example), but the basic palette will remain the same.

I'm very excited for the possibilities of adding new shirt colors in the future, especially limited run colors for specific events/designs.

Josephus

ProfHotpants wrote:Right now, we are offering the same palette of shirt colors. In the coming weeks there will be slight transitions on a couple of the colors (the new "silver" color may be a tiny bit different for example), but the basic palette will remain the same.

I'm very excited for the possibilities of adding new shirt colors in the future, especially limited run colors for specific events/designs.

I think a limited run color for a derby might be really cool.

I'd like to see a derby wherein you specify a metallic ink that we'd be allowed to use in moderation too, by the way. we don't have enough robot shirts, after all.

wisenekt

While I realize I am beating a dead horse, the $2 additional cost was passed off as a way to increase the thin profits and keep the American supplier. Now that the American supplier is being kicked to the curb, profits are going up even more so you guys can sell more sweatshirts? This does not make any sense.

How is this anything else besides a larger profit grab that sells out American workers?

mebekili

fluttersby8

Oh my god. Is it "Everyone Go Bat-s*** Crazy Day" on the internet and I just missed the memo? Calm down! First of all, 1st World Problem - have some perspective. Second, you all sound like you're losing your minds prematurely.

Some of you have worn Anvil shirts in the past and didn't like them. So? As has been said about 100 times in this thread, there are DIFFERENT BLANKS offered by the same company. Maybe you'll like these. $12 is not a lot of money to spend on ONE shirt. Try it. If you don't like it, your complaints will probably have a lot more weight. In the meantime, jumping on the "whine whine I hate change this is the worst thing ever" bandwagon does absolutely no good.

Yes, Woot wants to make more money. So do I and so do you, so stop with the hypocritical complaints about the price change. If you don't want to spend the money ... DON'T! What is the point of yelling about it in every relevant thread? Do you really think Woot will drop the price?

I'm willing to bet there are a lot of things about Woot that people don't like. Personally, I don't like that there's no shopping cart feature. Oh well. No expedited shipping for me. I wish they sold Big & Tall shirts so my husband could have a cool shirt once in a while. Oh well. No Woot shirts for him. That's the way it is. I would be absolutely gobsmacked if there was anyone anywhere who liked everything about any single company. Ever.

Chill out. Go outside, get some fresh air. Have a beer. Pet your dog. We have at least 10 more months until the end of the world, and I'm pretty sure no one will die over this.

WilfBrim

Very interesting thread. I didn't realize there were so many rabid shirt.woot fans: I tend to hang out more over at the main site and wine.woot. I can understand the obesssion with buying large quantities of wine: it doesn't last as long as a shirt.

This having been said, I certainly see the main issues that are being raised. Let me say straight off that I don't, per se, have a significant issue with good made overseas. I prefer American made goods, but understand that trade is a good thing. I certainly see that the double whammy of a 20% price increase combined with a change in supplier to one which is at least percieved as being inferior quality and coming from overseas cheap labor was not a very wise PR move. That is the polite way of saying What in hell were you thinking!

Personally, I was never enamored with the AA shirts. I thought they fit OK, but they were very thin and felt fragile. I have a few and am constantly afraid that they are going to rip. The one sweatshirt I have is nice, but it hasn't held up well. It started out black and 7 cold washings with gentle detergent later it is already noticibly faded. Boo. So maybe this is a move in the right direction.

The bigger issue is the price, generally. This is shirt.woot. I expect everything here to have a very high QPR. Bumping it 20% very much changes the equation. I don't see very many purchases in the future. Maybe some random tees sell off, but not at full price, and certainly not at the reckoning price. Ouch.

nyenna

WilfBrim wrote:The bigger issue is the price, generally. This is shirt.woot. I expect everything here to have a very high QPR. Bumping it 20% very much changes the equation. I don't see very many purchases in the future. Maybe some random tees sell off, but not at full price, and certainly not at the reckoning price. Ouch.

tylerknoxville

I'm sad to see the AA shirts go, but I'm glad that I can buy a whole bunch of blanks on the cheap right now

I'd really like to be able to buy a complete set of blank Woot tees, but I don't want to go with the chances of getting six different random three packs and getting six oranges. Would anyone else be willing to pay around $90 (6 3-packs) to guarantee you'd have a full Woot wardrobe with every color? I would ABSOLUTELY plunk down some cash for that, but I don't want one if I can't have 'em all!

dolemite007

I hate this "1st World Problem" crap. I live in America. When I move to some 3rd World toilet and lie starving in the gutter I'll worry about perspective. Until then, I'll complain about whatever I want, especially when it concerns where I spend my money.

Some of you have worn Anvil shirts in the past and didn't like them. So?

Um...okay.

If you don't want to spend the money ... DON'T! What is the point of yelling about it in every relevant thread?

Every relevant thread? You mean, just this one, where the Woot staff asked for our opinions?

wepnar

I haven't had time to read the whole thread as I'm at work and just taking a bit of a lunch break. I don't necessarily have a problem with Anvil shirts which I take it are made in Honduras with verifiably good working conditions for the workers who receive a good wage. Granted, not as good a wage as AA workers get. Yet, AA has some other issues as well not the least of which is the smarmy owner as any quick google search will reveal. At the end of the day, I buy shirts from woot because of the artwork and I do so without regard to where the artist calls home, not for any patriotic reason. As long as Woot is guaranteeing their blanks will continue to be made under fair, equitable transparent working conditions, then I don't see a problem.

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